What's Really Been Stolen?
Today is January 6, 2021
Thirty-six years ago I was able to go on a class trip to Washington, DC with my 8th grade classmates. We took two buses from Columbia, SC to Washington, DC. We spent one day at Kings Dominion and the next day we toured the city.
A classmate of mine posted a snapshot of this photo on Facebook today with the caption, “It’ll never be the same…for me!!!” I replied, “Ruined it!”
Fast forward about thirty-four years. Summer 2017, before my son was going into the 8th grade, paperwork was sent home for a similar class trip in the Spring of 2018. He never asked to go, no parents signed up. Whatever was happening in 2017 when I received that paperwork, I immediately said to myself, “I’m not feeling this; it’s not safe”. Times had changed. I couldn’t picture my son roaming around the city with his classmates, or sitting on the steps of the United States Capitol for a photo op. If it were even a possibility, I didn’t want him to meet the President or be in his vicinity. The 8th grade class trip experience was one my son would never have; a stolen opportunity.
Two years later in 2020, proms were stolen, graduations were stolen, sports seasons were stolen, fellowship was stolen, jobs, income, lives and so much more. Women birthed babies without their families present, people died without their families present. People killed themselves because they were alone.
So while in a this feels like 9/11 kinda mood, I pretty much lost it when I heard, “We had an election that was stolen from us…” in the midst of his supporters storming the Capitol.
I don’t want to rant here or remember how bad I felt when he said that. Americans have lost so much; so much has been STOLEN from us as a result of his recklessness and personal agenda.
We’ve got a long way to go in clean up and recovery with politics, camaraderie, patriotism, respect for one another and getting our country all around healthy again.
I miss my parents. We’ve been following the rules. If I can get just a little bit back that was stolen from others, in two years I’d like to see my son have a normal senior year with all the fanfare and I’d like my parents there to see him graduate.